the crossandshell story: Camino Day 40 jeudi 13/5/10 - A cliff climbing, blistered detoured day

Here is a brief mention in my blog (written a few days later)

The last few days have been very interesting. Cluis to Crozant (Placemarks 106-110) was a strange mixture of walking down very (and I mean VERY) steep paths and scrambling up (yes, almost VERTICAL) paths as well as ending up going on the east side of the lac rather than the west – adding time and distance to the day. Crozant was a beautiful place full of references to the impressionist painters who once stayed there.

The German pilgrim we shared a gite with a couple of days ago waxed lyrical about the viaduct we crossed this morning. We had the place to ourselves and I took several pictures (see a sample pic below).

The weather was grey and overcast when we set off and the route out of town was not particularly pretty but after walking along a quiet road that gradually turned into a path we entered a wood and emerged on the rough cinder path that became the viaduct...

By the time we reached Gargilesse the weather was improving but the clouds never cleared and the promise was never really fulfilled. Interestingly, despite it being a major holiday weekend and despite the handful of walkers we encountered, there were very few people in Gargilesse and fewer still at the lake and around generally. A holiday in the UK the lake would have been filled with sailing boats and the like but nothing.... it would appear that holidays like this are still dominated by people visiting their families and sharing holiday meals together. At the most they take over the local cafe, restaurant or bar and celebrate there.

Even the large Gite Rural down by the lakeside was empty! Looks like a major business opportunity to me – if the French under-use their beautiful resources it means you can sell their use to Brits keen for bigger, wider and non-crowded sailing experiences.

Also, looking back on our route, the long, near vertical scramble near the dam was something we would not advise to the faint hearted (or sensible) readers... especially with full packs on. We just didn’t want to go back/retrace our route because we had walked too far. We also thought that we would be able to get across the top of the dam. It did look like it was possible on our map and on the ones we had seen in the previous town (it was marked as part of a route!). So we were not happy to find that we had to climb even further to join a route we didn’t want to do.

Once the path left the lakeside the route became less interesting and it turned into a bit of a long slog but we just pushed on relentlessly.

Just as we were beginning to fear that we would have to spend time searching for our hotel once we reached Crossant, we turned a bend in the road and encountered a very large billboard advertising the hotel, complete with a picture of it. It looked so good it lifted our spirits. Then we couldn’t believe our luck when we turned yet another bend in the road and, there in front of us, was the hotel itself.

The room we had was at the back of the hotel with a rock-face for our view, which would have been depressing on a dull, cold day. We had a shower in the room but the loos were down the corridor. It was a reduced rate room for pilgrims and we found it more than adequate. For me the only downside was that the lovelymeal was served with new potatoes dusted in herbs and parmesan cheese so I couldn’t eat them and I did not want to wait for replacements.

Compensation came in the form of a glass of excellent Irish malt whisky served with the compliments of George from Northern Ireland.

Alison's Log - Camino Day 40 jeudi 13/5/10 - Cluis to Crozant

Ascension Day, and a public holiday in France. Alarm at 6 and got up pretty much straight away as we were occupying the living quarters. Got fresh bread and pain aux raisins from the Boulanger for breakfast and then set off. First stage via a disused railway viaduct which was long and very high across a wide deep valley – amazing!! Then on the road, rather than the chemin to Cuzion. Found a bar for a beer (all set out for a festival dinner and locals/family members at the bar) and then we had lunch on a bench outside the church.

I saw a path on the map display (on a board in the square) that looked like a shorter and flatter route than the chemin or the road so we went that way. In fact it turned out it was longer and probably hillier .... should have said that my thoughts have been dominated by my mum and dad as dad had his operation to have his gall bladder removed this morning and have been waiting for news until the evening....

Passed through Gargilesse which is where the north and south route from Vezelay are supposed to merge but didn’t see more pilgrims, just lots of day walkers and tourists – the village is very picturesque – we followed the chemin from Cuzion down to the river/lakeside which was a very steep path down a gorge which was exciting as well as very beautiful. Tried to follow the path along the river but when we got to the dam we had to scramble/climb up the near vertical route over the ridge.... Ian had assumed that at the dam we could choose to take the east or west route by using the dam to cross from one side of the mouth of the lake to the other but the top of the dam was blocked off and guarded – no trespassers!

So it took ages to reach Crozant. Definitely further (and more hilly) than the 34k trek we had expected. But the hotel was on our side of the lake between us and Crozant so still managed to arrive there by 5.30. Ian has just taken a picture of a massive blister between his big toe and the one next to it. His green socks have worn through, too and are in the bin.

Have succumbed to the whole demi-pension deal as the town is too far and the hotel and restaurant looked good – a wise if expensive decision. Not only Yves and Bernard but also Monique and friends eating here. And got talking to an Irish couple – Gillian and George – who know the owner – what is this pilgrimage thing and why are you doing it, etc?

News about my dad is OK. He is poorly and will take a while to recover but it sounds like he will be OK.

Mum’s call came through OK despite the very poor reception – Ian managed to get the wifi to work briefly in the bar. Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot shorter to La Souterraine.....

The sofa was our bed in Cluis...